Castro first stared blankly at Avicenna's open hands for a while, and then looked helplessly at Lacy and John de Rupisisa in the room. When he realized that this result had become a settlement,
At that moment, his legs gave way and he knelt on the ground, crying uncontrollably.
Avicenna ignored Castro completely. He looked at the pale alchemists outside the door and repeated: "Who is next?"
Castro was a highly reputable tutor in the university, but he was expelled from the university by Avicenna in a few words. This made the remaining alchemists in danger. Avicenna's
Looking at them, they just want to dodge, how can they dare to step forward?
Seeing the reaction of the alchemists, Avicenna had a meaningful smile on his face.
"I have heard that many alchemists would hide gold in charcoal, a false bottom of a crucible, or inside a metal vessel, and then take it out when the time is right, pretending that transmutation has occurred. To tell an interesting thing, not long ago, Thomas
A fraud occurred in Skana. An alchemist used this magic method to gain the trust of a goldsmith and borrowed his site to prepare the philosopher's stone. But soon, the alchemist took away everything the goldsmith had.
The family property has disappeared.”
The story of the alchemy liar is not uncommon across the continent, which is one of the reasons why many countries discriminate against alchemy. However, bringing this story to the Alchemy University for public discussion is tantamount to slapping all the instructors in the university in the face.
President John De Rupisisa couldn't sit still and said: "I'm afraid there are more liars pretending to be alchemists than there are teachers and students in this university, but every teacher and student in this university is a real alchemist."
Magician. No one in the school has ever claimed to be able to create a philosopher's stone."
"A smart statement to draw a clear line between yourself and those liars. But aren't what you are studying the deception books left by those liars? What Zosimos, Jabir Ibn Hayan, are just
They are just liars who were born too early. Look at those real ancient wise men, such as Aristotle. He mastered all the knowledge of that era, but it did not include alchemy. Doesn't this explain the problem?
"
Avicenna saw that the alchemists were gritting their teeth with hatred, then smiled and said:
"Don't look at me with such malice. This is just my personal prejudice. If you want to prove that alchemy is not a scam, you can boldly come out and prove it. Although I am firmly opposed to alchemy, but follow me
The two committee members who came here are still in a state of uncertainty. As long as you can successfully persuade one of them, plus Lacy and your principal, you will be in the majority."
A strong man stood out among the alchemists: "How about taking a look at my latest achievement?"
Avicenna narrowed his eyes and looked at him: "Who are you?"
"George Starkey. Unlike Castro, I'm good at practical things."
"Okay, let's go to your laboratory." Avicenna stood up holding the heavy book, "I hope I can get some surprises this time."
George Starkey's alchemy laboratory is no different from most alchemy laboratories. The items in the laboratory are organized into categories and look quite neat. Starkey walked into the laboratory and rummaged for a while.
, and finally took out a piece of white metal the size of a finger.
"Look at this, this is the crowning achievement of my life."
Avicenna took the piece of white metal and looked at it carefully for a while. The piece of metal had a silver luster and looked the same as silver.
"Don't tell me this is silver," Avicenna said. "You are an alchemist, not a silversmith."
"This is of course not silver, but a great product of alchemy, a metal that does not exist in nature. I call it solid silver. Although it looks like silver, its properties are actually close to gold."
"I don't know much about metals." Avicenna turned to the two committee members who followed him, "You have been committee members longer than me. Try to see if what he is telling the truth?"
The short and fat committee member nodded and stood up first: "To test silver and gold, the fastest way is of course to use nitric acid. Silver will be corroded, but gold will not. Let me give it a try.
"
He walked around the alchemy laboratory and found a reagent labeled nitric acid. But just as he was about to throw the piece of metal in, Avicenna stopped him: "Don't use this directly, go to other
Let’s get a bottle from the lab.”
"Avicenna, what do you mean?" Lacy shouted unbearably from the side, "Are you suspecting that this bottle of reagent is fake?"
Avicenna replied calmly: "Since it is a review, of course you have to be skeptical. After all, it is not difficult to put a label on a bottle, right?"
The pudgy committee member woke up from a dream, put down the bottle of reagent, and went to another laboratory to get a bottle. He put the white metal into the nitric acid and looked at it for a long time. The "solid silver" still remained
The original shape has not been corroded by nitric acid.
The onlookers' alchemists made a sound of exclamation. It is not that easy to resist the corrosion of nitric acid. Among the seven major metals, only gold can do this.
"The corrosion resistance is really good." The tall and thin committee member stood up and said, "Let me try its melting point."
The melting point of gold is much higher than that of silver. The tall and thin committee member used tweezers to take out the piece of white metal, rinsed it clean, and put it into the crucible together with a small piece of silver of similar size for heating. He did not
Familiar with alchemy, unable to control temperature well,
When the crucible was taken out, the temperature had far exceeded the melting point of silver. The silver had naturally turned into silver water, but the white metal still maintained its original shape and did not change.
The crowd burst into applause. The fat committee member and the thin committee member whispered to one side in a voice that Avicenna could not hear, and it seemed that their attitudes had changed.
"How?" George Starkey looked at Avicenna provocatively.
"Your skills are indeed genuine," Avicenna's face softened, "It must cost a lot of money to make such a piece of metal, right?"
"That's natural. After my refining of the ore that's as big as a fist, only a little bit less than a hair's length can be used. To make this piece of solid silver, the raw materials alone cost me a full fifty Nomes!
"
George Starkey thought he had passed the review and answered Avicenna without any reservations. Unexpectedly, as soon as these words came out, the attitudes of the two committee members suddenly changed. And Avicenna revealed that he was the winner.
smile:
"The experimental process is difficult, and it will inevitably cost more budget. I think when it is actually produced, the cost should be much less, right?"
"This..." George Starkey wiped his sweat and said hesitantly, "to produce this... the cost will probably be equivalent to gold."
Avicenna interrupted him coldly: "And it is only silver, not gold. Although its properties are similar, it is probably much weaker than real gold."
Avicenna left George Starkey behind and made a declaration to all the alchemists:
"Look, this alchemist has spent his whole life proving to us a self-evident truth: technology is weaker than nature. Compared with God, humans are not only ignorant, but also have huge weaknesses. God relies on
Nothing created by natural forces can be imitated by humans. Human efforts must be inferior to what nature does. I think there is no need for the art of alchemy to exist at all, right?"
